Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[benham]

Vince Flynn, excellent! Only a few days away from Kill Shot!

[coderserdar]

jack higgins - the wolf at the door

a good dillon story but at last 3 books there are another characters
and sean dillon takes rarely in book

[coderserdar]

jack higgins - the wolf at the door

a good dillon story but at last 3 books there are another characters
and sean dillon takes rarely in book

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: The Swords of Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber. The fifth in the Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser series.

More fun with Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser.

Next I read The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, which was fun, but not brilliant. I might well get the next two books though, as the idea has merit.

I haven't chosen my next book yet.

[paulsalter]

Just started reading Oliver Twist, not read any of the full length Dickens novels before, I have seen quite a few TV versions of various ones though.

I thought it might be a difficult read, but so far it's great and really enjoying it

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next I read The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, which was fun, but not brilliant. I might well get the next two books though, as the idea has merit.

I found the 2nd book a disappointment due to Funetikly Spelt Oirish Aksent and somewhat unimaginatively cliche use of common Celtic-derivative fantasy tropes (YMMV), but the 3rd was pretty decent and had an interesting incorporation of Navajo mythology. Mind you, I'd still buy the lot if Scarborough's re-publisher puts them on sale again during Read an E-book Week.

As for myself, just finished The Heat of the Moon by Sandra Parshall, the 9th out of my 10 Poisoned Press start-of-series titles which I bought during their aptly-named "Build Your Mystery Library" 99 cent introductory sale, to which they've just added another 13 titles for the same prices and terms (DRM-free in a Mobi/ePub bundle when directly bought from them) without yet removing the original 10.

I'm like 6 or so books behind in my commenting, but I'll say that all 9 of the PPP intro sale books I've read so far were worth my time and money, albeit some rather more than others.

This one, 1st in the Rachel Goddard series, was a psychological suspense about a veterinarian experiencing a traumatic childhood flashback which triggers her to dig into the her family's past to find out what really happened, and she keeps running into obstacles and dead ends when trying to find the truth.

I didn't think I'd like it much when I initially checked out the unpromising sample, but it was dirt-cheap as part of the sale and the author's bio said she had award nominations for this particular series so I thought I'd give it a try while supporting a small niche publisher/sale e-books offered for a good price on good terms.

I did get drawn into wanting to know exactly what the mystery that the family was going to such lengths to hide was, and it was something of a surprise, especially how things turned out afterwards because based on how these sorts of "family secrets" things usually go, the endings turn out to be much more cliche and sentimental.

But this book didn't go there, and was fairly deft at showing the deliberate emotional manipulation and stifling unspoken tensions that underlay the protagonist's seemingly perfect-at-a-glance situation.

Mild-to-medium recommend if you think you might like this sort of story. While I understood exactly how the main character was being maneuvered and manipulated against her will, I still got rather annoyed that it kept happening to her, even though uncovering why someone would go to such lengths to do so was basically the core of the plot.

However, it was interesting enough and played out well enough that I'd be willing to look at the sequels in the library; it seems like she settles into being a more regular type of amateur sleuth once she solves this particular mystery.

[richvalle]

Wow I didn't realize there was a new Paks book out. Thanks for that bit of info!

I'm going to have to give the Riyria Revelations a try.

A friend of a friend recommended the "Iron Druid" series as he said it was "Like Dresden". I don't quite agree with that though I think if you like Dresden books you'll like these. They do flow like a Dresden book and they are laugh out loud funny in parts.

I've just picked up book 3 in that series (Hammered, after 1: Hounded and 2: Hexed) from the Library.

I also picked up book two: Magic Burns (mentioned by someone up-thread). I had mixed feelings about the first one. I like the story and the character but I don't like the setting/world. The main character is interesting enough to make me read the 2nd one.

And finally the 3rd book picked up is 'Big Trouble" by Dave Barry as it was recommended by someone at work as funny, as what by Dave Barry isn't?

I'm about 1/4 of the way though "Name of the Wind". Started out good but starting to drag some I think. I'll put it down while I read the library books.

rv

[lemurfist]

I'm off to the the Wizard of Oz.

[Traye]

The Leaping by Tom Fletcher.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I haven't chosen my next book yet.

I've started on The Man Who Used the Universe by Alan Dean Foster. I bought this in a fictionwise sale back in April 2009, so it's about time I read it.

So far it's rather good, but I do wonder where he's going with the story.

[pilotbob]

Just finished WWW: Wonder, book 3 of the WWW Trilogy by Robert J Sawyer.

Spoiler:

This is the story of an emergent AI that forms on the WWW. It is ushered by a blind girl who gains sight through technology. In gaining this site she initially is able to "see" the WWW. This is when she discovers the emergent AI, or perhaps it discovers her.

I'd certainly recommend the trilogy. It is a good story line and well paced. While that said, I don't think I'm as head over heals with it as Tom is/was. While there is some tension in the book, it is mild and too easily overcome by the protagonists.

3.5 Stars out of 5 overall for the series.

BOb

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by richvalle

Wow I didn't realize there was a new Paks book out. Thanks for that bit of info!

I didn't realise it was out so soon (23rd Feb in the UK). And since the Kindle edition is at a reasonable price (£4.49), I've just pre-ordered it. (Wow - UK cheaper than the US for once. I guess because it's in paperback in the UK, but hardback in the US)

[richvalle]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I didn't realise it was out so soon (23rd Feb in the UK). And since the Kindle edition is at a reasonable price (£4.49), I've just pre-ordered it. (Wow - UK cheaper than the US for once. I guess because it's in paperback in the UK, but hardback in the US)

Heck, I didn't realize "Oath of Fealty" was out/was a Pak's book! So many books...


I do seem to be developing an issue with too many series going at the same time. Oh well, there are worse problems to have.

Have a good weekend. I'd say 'have a good Superbowl Sunday' but you are on the other side of the pond.

rv

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I didn't realise it was out so soon (23rd Feb in the UK). And since the Kindle edition is at a reasonable price (£4.49), I've just pre-ordered it. (Wow - UK cheaper than the US for once. I guess because it's in paperback in the UK, but hardback in the US)

Wow, the UK price is way cheaper! I'm still showing $12.99 here for the book when it comes out. Our date is either the same or nearly so -- I'd have to check, but I know it's towards the end of the month.

[ATDrake]

So, catching up on Stuff I've Read. Finished a few more of my Poisoned Pen Press 99 cent introductory purchases over the past week or so. Brief comments since others might be interested in picking them up while still on sale:

Artifacts, 1st in the Faye Longchamp archaeological mystery series by Mary Anna Evans was the one I enjoyed most out of the current lot.

This was a rather ambitious story involving a murder in the past, a murder in the present, and an overarching mystery involving the amateur sleuth's heritage. Overall it was fairly well done, although in some places it did seem to overreach itself with some of the plot twists and melodrama and things did get tied up in a moderately pat fashion.

But I think it ended up establishing a decent springboard for the sequels and it did have some rather interesting academic-oriented archaeology/history bits which I liked.

Another academia-involving mystery/thriller, Artscape by Frederick Ramsay, 1st in the Ike Schwartz series about a retired CIA guy turned college town sheriff, was another one I wasn't sure I would like, since the premise and sample made it look like it might be a launch for some Islamophobic far right-wing diatribes.

But although there is some political discussion, it's a lot more balanced and thoughtful than I was expecting (still a bit knee-jerk reactionary in places and likes to trump the leftist college professor supporting character by showing the sheriff as being in the right, so to speak).

And it was mostly glossed over in favour of presenting a nice enough art heist caper with viewpoints not only from the sheriff who's tracking the thieves who intend to hold the college's prestigious on-loan art collection for ransom or destruction, but also the down-on-his-luck guy who's gotten too deeply involved and wants to get out.

Overall, not bad. The rest of the series would have to be dirt-cheap sale if not library reads, but I am now sufficiently interested to go check out Ramsay's historical mysteries set in Jerusalem at some point.

A bit like a mashup of the other two, the academic-turned-deputy-sheriff David Mapstone mystery Concrete Desert by John Talton rapidly turned into one of those "things are not what they seem, the real mystery is what's really going on here" stories.

Again, this involves a murder in the past possibly infringing on some murders (and a disappearance) in the present. This was done well enough, and the whodunnits for both were a bit of a surprise, but thriller-ish police procedurals are generally not my sort of thing.

However, it seems good enough that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that someone who did like that kind of thing might want to check it out, especially at the currently offered price.

This looks long enough, so I'll comment on the two Canadian-written and set mysteries later after lunch.